Several members graciously helped me tweak up my 1980s vintage 10” Craftsman table saw several months back. I’ve got a new question – I set a straight edge against the stock fence the other day and noticed that it was not particularly true. What are my options here? Should I be investigating an aftermarket fence (how exactly do those work – are they paired with particular saws)? Should I find a way to bolt / screw a sacrificial fence onto the existing one to true it up?

Trevor, the problem with Craftsman saw fences is the locking mechanism creates a bow in the fence when it is locked down. In theory you should be able to eliminate the bow by adding shims and a plywood fence but I never could quite get it to work on my old Craftsman saw. The problem I had was finding plywood that was straight and true.

You certainly can add another fence to the saw. The Delta T-2 fence works well on it and several members here have posted blogs on doing this. I tried it on my saw and, while I got it on, the fence had a 3/8” gap between the fence and the top of the saw. I could have eliminated this by adding a plywood sub-fence or drilling out new mounting holes in the cast iron top but, opted to return the fence instead of continuing to mess with it.

-- Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful- Joshua Marine

Trevor, I’ve still got a 1985 Crapsman 10 ” contractor t.s. When I bought it new the fence was a piece of junk. I put up this for about 6-8 months. Measure with a tape from blade to fence-over and over and over. I got disgusted doing this, and got to reading about after-market fence and rail systems. I bought a Delta Precision Saw guide w/ 30” rails(don’t know if they still make them or not—23+years old)> Mounted easilly to the Crapsman. Dead-on accurate then, and still is today. I’ve still got that saw, but also have a ‘09 Delta X5 Unisaw. I use the Crapsman to cut dados and rabbits, and got them back to back. I’ve heard good things about the T2 Delta fence and rails from the LJer’s on here. Get rid of the fence and rail you have on now. You’ll never be able to really fix the problem until you either buy a new saw, or update the one you have now.

Depends on what you’re looking to get out of it. An 80’s Craftsman may not be worth fixing-up when you can get a nice new Ridgid with a granite top for $600. You can also find decent used saws on Craigslist and such. It may not make financial sense, but sometimes we do things just because we can. Here’s a site with more Craftsman info for you:

Trevor, about upgrading your saw or the fence that is largely a personal decision. I know a lot of guys who are perfectly satisfied with Craftsman saws (and I also see a lot of them for sale on Craigslist). All I can say is that after dealing with the Craftsman saw issues for over 10 years I gave the saw to a neighbor and rewarded myself this year with a new saw for all the pain and suffering I put up with over the years. A new fence would have resolved a lot of problems with the saw but I had gotten to the point where I simply did not want to spend any more money on it. So it was time for a new saw, for me at least. But I did have to ask my wife for an advance on my allowance though. :)

-- Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful- Joshua Marine